Encapsulation of active drug substance

The "encapsulation of active drug substance" is not a biological molecule or cellular receptor but a pharmaceutical technology used to protect, deliver, and control the release of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Encapsulation involves surrounding an API (the "core") with a protective material (the "shell" or "carrier") to shield it from degradation, mask undesirable properties (e.g., taste, toxicity), improve solubility, enhance bioavailability, or enable targeted or controlled release at specific sites in the body[1][4]. Common materials used for encapsulation include lipids, polymers, polysaccharides, proteins, and various emulsifiers[1][4]. This technology is widely applied in medicines, food supplements, and functional foods, but the encapsulation itself is not a therapeutic target—it is a formulation strategy to improve drug performance and patient outcomes[1][4]. The process may involve techniques such as spray drying, (spray) freeze-drying, spray cooling, emulsification, coacervation, and others, depending on the intended application and properties of the API[1][2][4]. If you have a specific API or drug in mind, that would be the actual therapeutic target, not the encapsulation process itself.

Other names

Drug encapsulationactive ingredient encapsulationAPI encapsulationmicroencapsulationnanoencapsulationliposomal encapsulationdrug delivery systemtargeted drug deliverycarrier-mediated drug deliverycontrolled release systemmatrix encapsulationcore-shell encapsulationmicrospheremicrocapsulenanoparticlenanospherenanocapsule